The Independent Voice of West Indies Cricket
Since his debut against South Africa five years ago, Daren Ganga has been one of the most controversial selections in West Indies cricket. After eight Test matches, all away and all against the top two teams in the world, his batting average stood at an unlucky 13.
West Indies will have to dig deep in the test series against South Africa to make up for the absence of several players through injury, according to coach Gus Logie.
"We've had to change a few players in our squad because of injuries," Logie told the Reuters news agency before Friday's start to the first of the four tests. "That has been a setback, but it's nothing we can't overcome. In fact, it will give our players more impetus to know that they have to dig even deeper."
One day after usually reliable sources indicated Ryan Hinds was picked to replace the injured Omari Banks, the West Indies selectors dropped a bombshell, announcing Adam Sanford would instead make the trek to South Africa.
In a brief statement, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) said the Dominica-born fast bowler was the choice to join Brian Lara's squad in South Africa. The selection of Sanford, who has played in seven Tests, comes as a major surprise since his name was not forwarded to the WICB as a standby.
Jamaica and West Indies middle-order batsman Ricardo Powell will represent Trinidad and Tobago in next season's Carib Beer Regional series.
Powell is awaiting confirmation from the local Board but will line-up in tomorrow's trial game. According to Rambhai Patel, administrative manager and executive member of the TTCB, the 25-year-old Powell wrote an official letter to the local Board stating his intentions to represent this country in the up-coming regional tournament.
Just days before winning a recall to the West Indies team as replacement for the injured Omari Banks, Ryan Hinds took some time to thank the legendary Sir Garfield Sobers for helping him iron out some technical faults.
According to a report in the Barbados Advocate, Sobers worked with Hinds on some technical issues just days before he scored a century and took nine wickets in spurring BNB Western Blasters to an innings win over PHD Eastern Pirates in the opening round of the second annual Arawak Cement Cup cricket championship last weekend.